Ordering my first rig ($1000) tomorrow

That case is very expensive for a budget system. Pick up an Antech/Chieftech Dragon for $60, awesome case, and use the money you save to upgrade to a 250 gig HS. 80 gigs will fly away within a couple weeks.
 
I'm willing to pay to get a case that caught my eye immediatley. After the $20 rebate , plus free shipping, it doesnt end up much more expensive than most cases.

Also, I've survived easily on 30 gigs for over 2 years, so 80 will be good for now.
 
Couple things Id change.

1, The case. You dont want something that expensive, especially for a first build, and im talking about things like, risks of damaging something that expensive as well as not needing something that expensive. Try this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152
Solid construction, dosnt look half bad, nice pricetag, and a lot of happy customers that own one already. Idk if it suits your design tastes but its great for a first build.

2. That HDD might not last you with that much storage, so you can either go big, or save some money and put it towards a better component somewhere. Try this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144011
160GB, SATA 3.0Gb/s, $90. Pretty good in my opinion.

Thats about it. Either a better hard drive or you can go with a better component. By the way do you intend to overclock? Because if you do you might want to get a better heatsink for that A64.
 
Yes, I'm going to OC down the road.

Case wise, what about a Centurion 5 or NZXT Trinity? I really like the tsunami the best though, and dont see why paying $20-30 more for a nice case is such a waste.
 
Well see, as hard as it is to say about a nice looking case like a tsunami, its just a box, and paying $30+ more for "just a box" dosnt seem all that worth it when there are some things that might look cooler for a lower price. That money could go into some better hardware....but, suit yourself.
 
What were you saying about the heatsink? If you have a link, I'd appreciate it. As for the hdd, like i said, I could get a 160gb or more, I just have no need. I don't use much space, just some music and games.

And I know its naive, but I like my electronics nice an pretty :p
 
that hard drive is pretty small. for a little more you can get 200gb ;)

other than that it looks pretty nice
 
I dont mean for this to sound like a crap on your build, but you can do much better than the tsunami. I bought one a while back simply because of the cool factor. It's one computer purchase I regret, as well as a water cooling kit. You live you learn though. Honestly, that case might be light but it is also flimsy and resonates like a mother because of my hard drives. Buzz, buzz, buzz... kick, repeat. My recommendation, if you dont plan on schlepping the case around for LANs is to get something beefier and ultimately cheaper. If you dont mind spending the extra dough on a bitchin case then go with the Antec P180. My boy's got one and it's the shiznit. Tsunami = poop, JMHO.
 
About the HDD: What does everyone put to fill up your massive hard drives? I used a laptop with 30gb, and though it was almost full, it was fine for me. Do you all really need that much porn :confused: :p
 
One second lemme take a look at the heatsinks. Anywho on the HDD, I had lots of anime stuff, music, program installations (the anime was a large part), and stuff that easily stacked up GBs. Idk what your purposes are but you may even want to get a smaller one. You can always expand when you need to in that case.
 
Ok, thanks. I think I'll go with a 120GB, should be more than enough for quite a while.

Also, I was looking at cheaper cases, and came across one that I like. Click?
 
hard drives are easy to fill. on my 200gb i have

70gb of compressed movies
30gb music (192kb mp3s)
75GBs of programs, games, iso's of all the games i own etc
3gb of pics


that leaves a very small amount of free space, my 80gb drive is used for program files and dvd rips that i have not burned yet

the other 200gb is a clone of the first one for backup purposes


edit: about the case dilema, i would honestly go with this case
http://dealsonic.com/skmssialatxm.html

the price is amazing for the quality of the case. i have built 3 computers in that case including one i use on a dialy basis as a server and it works awesome. it has plenty of options for cooling, it looks really nice, it is light since it is all aluminum and there is plenty of space inside for water cooling if you want it, nice wire managment and room for expansion down the road, like extra hard drives etc.

if you need pics of that case with a system in it just let me know and i will take some
 
Update: Here we go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106038

Thermaltake Venus 12 80mm, Full copper, $30, and a supersilent and superpowerful 80mm (30-80CFM), gets a 5 average rating out of 206, so most everyone loves these. Pair it with some Arctic Ceramique and your golden....er. copper :p

About that case. Yea thats a pretty good pick. If you like its design, go for it. Many people seem to be content with it, and it looks pretty solid. Nice price, nice selection on the HDD too.
 
Ok, I edited original post. Changes: Case to Antec Sonata II, HDD to WD 120GB, Memory to Corsair XMS. How does it look now?
 
The Sonata is a nice case and comes with a PSU. It's also very quiet. I wouldn't have a problem with that case ;).
 
Thanks for replying :)

Yeah, after reading reviews on it it really appealed to me.

I saw in another thread you recommended G.Skill extreme ram. Would I be better off getting this than the stuff I have now?
 
Well, those are two different setups...the Corsair is 2x512 and the G.Skill is 1x1GB. You can't run dual channel with only 1 stick of RAM ;).
 
I'm pretty clueless when it comes to RAM, but my friend (who has already built his gaming rig) was saying something about that too...how is running 2 512mb sticks different from a 1gb stick?
 
2x512 allows you to run in dual channel. Running memory in dual channel gives you an increase in memory bandwidth which will improve performance in some applications. 1x1GB runs in single channel which is the same as a s754. In some ways, it's kind of a waste to not run dual channel with a s939 chip, but at the same time it's not like there's too big of a performance hit. If you plan on going to 2GB shortly, I'd go with 1x1GB and then get another matching 1GB stick when you can.
 
I'd probably go 2gb eventually, but not very soon. What about getting 2 512mb sticks, then a 1gb stick of the same brand later?
 
mash said:
I'd probably go 2gb eventually, but not very soon. What about getting 2 512mb sticks, then a 1gb stick of the same brand later?
Click to expand...

3 dimms don't work. You always have to have multiples of 2 (unless running 1 stick ;) ). I'd get 2x512 now and then 2x512 later.
 
Sorry to bump again, I just need to make sure that the PSU that comes with the Antec Sonata II will support that rig. I'm probably ordering the case and vid card/mobo combo today (so I can make sure that mobo stays free :p) until my laptop sells, when I'll order the rest. If needed I could buy a couple extra fans, but I'm pretty sure the Antec PSUs are plenty (with the included fan). Thanks to anyone who can help.
 
That power supply is fine.

The Sonata II is a good case, I've used them for a few builds
 
I think possibly $30 or so is for the psu in that case, otherwise id say its too expensive lol. I was kina wondering why it was $99, then I remembered it came with a 450W psu lol.
 
You don't really need to get an SLI motherboard. SLI is a terrible upgrade option, imo... the debate about this has been had a thousand times elsewhere, but I think you'd be better off getting a non-SLI A8N or the like. The only reason I bring this up is because my experience tells me never to get a motherboard from any manufacturer other than Asus or Abit.
 
I dont even find PCI-E to be any better than AGP 8x. Hey, numbers may be nice, but who really cares? Im confident that at least my 6800 GT can get better performance than any PCI-E out on the market, even the 7800 series. I just havent overclocked my card to the ultimate maximum quite yet :p , although ive gotten pretty far, 440/1300 (Stock 350/1000). Now this is just in terms of already owning a kick ass AGP card. Right now its not a good market for AGP since the cards are rising in prices, which is one way the companies are trying to zone out AGP. Anyway, if your going PCI-E, you definetly dont need SLi with 7 Series or 6 series nVidia cards. With SLi though, youll definetly want to get a psu thats at least 450W.
 
I have Sonata II sitting right next to me in the box waiting for a build. I didnt even take it out yet but i think it should be great. For people who say that its too much for a case, dont forget that you get Antec PSU with it which is more then enough for midrange system. and I ordered it from www.clubit.com for $100 with free shipping :D
 
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